De Bruyne's box passes outshine criticism at World Cup

While early World Cup commentary has often painted Kevin De Bruyne as under‑performing, the Belgian midfielder’s numbers tell a different story: in the first three group matches he delivered eleven passes into the opponent’s penalty area, more than any other player in the tournament. De Bruyne scored against New Zealand, a moment that helped silence questions that had arisen around the national‑team star. His commitment has been evident since the start of the preparation camp for the World Cup. During the two opening group matches the Napoli midfielder also produced a few neglected passes, an uncommon occurrence for a player of his usual standard. Those lapses were noted as rare deviations from his typical precision.

Leandro Trossard silences critics with masterclass against New Zealand

The statistic of eleven passes into the box places De Bruyne at the top of the tournament leaderboard for that metric. No other player, from Belgium or any other nation, has matched that figure. Leandro Trossard contributed ten passes into the opponent’s rectangle, putting him just behind De Bruyne. Trossard also created the most clear‑cut chances for Belgium in the competition so far. The data suggest that De Bruyne is reliably feeding the Belgian attack, while the finishing of his teammates could still improve. The contrast between criticism and concrete output highlights his continued importance for the national side. If the Belgian squad can convert more of the opportunities generated by De Bruyne and Trossard, their attacking threat will become even harder to contain in the remaining World Cup fixtures.